Help! I'm Moving to Texas

Me too Lois...I think one of the greatest gifts we can have is the ability to laugh...at our self!! I laugh a LOT! LOL Jo

I'm learning more and more about termites and the necessity to keep the soil away from the exterior siding. And yes, I've already learned about making sure you water the ground aroung the slab. I thought this very strange when I first heard about it.

Another interesting bit of information involves exterior windows. The Garland house we really has the majority of its exterior windows fogged-up, some evebn with condensation between the panes. Happened to run into a glass replacement co. at a neighbors house when we were viewing one house for sale. He said the seals fail and the gass between the panes escapes and fogged windows are the result. The original builder must have been cutting corners by installing these inexpensive windows. I'm having Pella visit the house to see what it will cost to replace all of them and will then decide what our offer will be.

I'll tell you what, I sure know a LOT of people that remind me of characters on that show. ROTF! Everyone except Kahn ~ don't have any bigoted Laotians around here. ;)

So how are you settling in, Jardin? Found a nice house yet?

Jardin,

I remember when we bought our house in McKinney, the inspector pointed out the windows. He also explained about the seals breaking, adding that the extreme temp changes speeds the process up down there.

In our contract, one of the stipulations was they had to replace all of the windows with broken seals. They did it for us, no problem. However, they did replace it with exactly the same type of window. We only lived at that house 13 months, so I'm not sure how well they held up. If you were going with the Pellas, perhaps you could ask for the replacement cost, and make up the difference yourself.

Trish

No house yet! The one with the fogged windows is not to be. Pella's estimate came back at $40,000! I realize their windows are miles above in quality than those in the house today, but the windows weren't the only deal breaker. There were other problems that, when added together, just didn't make it a good deal. The family had 1 little dog and 3 cats. It appeared and smelled like none were well house broken. This was a beautiful white stucco contemporary house, and even though they replaced the carpet last November (when the house first went on the market)the carpet was so badly soiled, now, that we would have to replace it and the total house would have to be cleaned w/ a hepavac process to remove the alergens from the floors and ductwork.

I'm surprised some home owner hasn't called the police on me while I'm driving neighborhoods to find houses for sale. I'm working with a realtor who does MLS searches and we tour homes, but I still like to drive the areas first so I can tell her where to look. I'll find something I'm sure of that...when?...might be the question!

Work is great and very, very busy. I've not worked on government contracts before...our government requires a fairly rigid process from start to finish. That won't help Boeing to get this job done as quickly as Congress thinks it's going to happen. My job is to improve the process. Problem is, I don't know if the government (TSA) will entertain loosening their process. We'll just have to see.

i just happened to stumble across this thread. sounds like you're in good hands, though. welcome to texas!!! by the way, i guess that means you'll be in texoma?? you live a lot closer than i do!!! i didn't read through the thread to see when you're moving (have moved), but hope to see you there at the round-up.

i used to work for an investigations company out of dallas, for one of my daddy's very good friends, another alumni of special forces. they're a tight group. if you need anything, my 'uncles' will be glad to help out, so just let me know!

again, welcome to texas...come visit the riverwalk here in san antonio sometime, you're welcome to stay at my house and i would love to be y'alls tour guide if you'd like, any time!!!

meiyu

meiyu, Yes I have been to the riverwalk in San Antonio.. I love it. It was four years ago.. I told my DH I want to go back there.. hopefully next summer..There's lots of great places to go as I know of. :o)

Oooh, San Antone! Love it! If you ever go back, Mini, and take a wrong turn ~ DON'T just think, "Well, I can take a couple rights to make the block and get back where I was." It don't work that way down there. LOL! Backtrack the exact way you came and you'll be fine.

Don't forget to see the Alamo while you're there. Now that it's such a tourist destination, you may have to work a little harder to get the reverent feeling, but when you do ~ oh, man! It'll floor you. To know that that many men KNEW what they were getting themselves in for ~ almost certain death ~ and they still stayed. They had plenty of time to leave and they didn't. They believed in freedom and independence that much. Wow...just wow...

Forgot to add ~ I've read that many people say you can almost easily get that feeling of reverence if you go see the real Alamo first to get the story, then go see the movie set that still stands down in Del Rio ~ the one built for the John Wayne movie. One day I'm gonna' do that!

Dear Meiyu,

Thanks for the invite to San Antonio. I've only been there once before and yes, it's a beautiful city...I loved the wandering river.

It would be nice to attend Texoma and meet all the wonderful Dave's Garden people. I have it on my calendar, but it will need to remain fluid in the event some Homeland Security business requires my presence elsewhere, even on weekends. I've already moved to Richardson and am currently living out of the Bradford Homesuites. Will try to get an apartment leased this weekend just to buy some time until I can find a house...my housing relocation allotment from Boeing runs out around the 15th of the month afterwhich I can continue staying at the hotel, but it's on my nickle. At $69/night that amounts to $2,100/month. So it's apartment time for me at maybe half that price!

sorry i haven't been online in so long, jardin...i'm having several scheduling problems of my own, and find the need for time management classes becoming more and more apparent. anyway, don't they have homestead villages up where you're at, or something like them? they're apartment hotels, very nice, with cable, internet, maid, and trash service, for about $99.00 per week. hope all is well, and again, sorry i've been delinquent in my replies.

Dear Meiyu,

Appreciate the info. but I've rented an apartment for 6 months...it's nice(2 bdrm/2bath w/ garage and a hugh ground level patio...actually it's more like a townhouse, the Marquis at Waterview. So I'm set for the while, but will continue to look for a house to buy.

jardin, is that in Richardson or Dallas? I know Waterview goes through Richardson - Mimosa Park on Waterview is only a few blocks from where we lived years ago.

Hee hee........couldn't help but notice....shows yer still in MN, zone 4.....Zone 7 would be shocked!!

"eyes"

GrannyLois,

My apartment is in Richardson...pretty much on the northern border of the Canyon Creek development, 1 mile west of Hwy 75 and just before you get to Plano. It's located at 800 W. Renner Road, Richardson, TX 75080. I'm only about 3.5 miles from work which makes it very nice after driving 25 miles one way to work for the past 8 years.

You're not too far from a good friend of mine who lives on Lawnmeadow Drive in Richardson. When we lived there, we lived in the 'reservation', where most of the streets were named after Indian tribes. Our street, tho, was La Mesa Drive (a tiny street parallel to Coit Road. It's a nice area, isn't it? And aren't the people just so friendly and helpful? Apparently there's a great flea market in McKinney. Lots of other cool things to explore. We're going down there in June and I was thinking we would drive through the Fossil Rim Park, where safari animals roam as you drive through. I hope you're enjoying Texas.

so, you're really a texan, grannylois? hehe!! i hope to meet you if you come down this way!!

jardin, it's been a while since i've lived in the dallas area, but richardson and plano sure sound familiar. i've lived in irving and arlington, and worked for peregrine international, inc., security and investigations company out of downtown dallas...i absolutely love the dallas area! are you enjoying it so far? the aquarium in downtown dallas is totally awesome, by the way...hope you check it out sometime!

Hi Jardin,Welcome to Texas.If you guys ever want to go Out West drive about 32 miles west on I30 Courthouse to Courthouse and check out Fort Worth (Sundance Square And the Stockyards)Its like a real different change of pace and has always been that way. I was raised in Ft Worth and rememeber when Down Town was a ghost town. Im 43 now and live about 40 miles west of Ft Worth. The worthington has a great Sunday brunch and Reata & Del Friscos has the best Cow you will ever eat! If you like animals the Ft Worth zoo cannot be beat,come to think of it,people that are not too crazy over animals are very impressed.Hope you guys enjoy and about the drivers,I try not too drive East of FT Worth at those bad times of day.My daughter flys with Southwest and she lives in Arlington not Dallas because she findes it easier to get to Love Field.Anyhow if yall have not made it to Cowtown yet,come on out! And Enjoy! And WELCOME!

GrannyLois,Meiyu, and WeedLady, Thany you for all the tips on what to see. My husband flew down tonight and will stay thru the following week. We'd like to do some more exploring of the surrounding area. We do plan to go to Ft. Worth...be my first time so will check-out the places you mentioned. We love flea markets too so McKinney sounds like the place to be, but you didn't say what day....any ideas? If not we'll just go exploring!!!

Well, Jardin, I'm 10 yrs older than Weedlady & also fr Ft Worth. If you like the arts & museums, you must ck out the ones in FtW. They are known all over the world. The Amon G Carter family had more money than the State. And of course, that country-hick town (said with loving pride) also has a great Botanical Gardens. I believe it is just off what use to be Hwy 80, just past downtown. I think it is now called I-30. And if you head that way next spring, be sure & look to the north as you go over town & you will see the beautiful water gardens they have. They made a Sci-fi movie & the gardens were all in it.
Truthfully, you could pick one thing to see per wkend & it would take you yrs to see all there is to see.
By the way, did you make it to the State Fair? If not & you are still here next fall, it happens ever October.
Enjoy this beautiful sun, it will be leaving soon. :~(

Something you got to see!!!!

"eyes"

All of these places sound wonderful. Now that my husband is here from Minnesota for the holidays we'll have to take some field trips this coming weekend.

I do have a question...saw on TV where the largest house in Texas is open a couple of weekends in December. The woman narrating the promotion was the owner, though they never said her name, nor did they give the location of the house. I guess they assumed all Texans knew where it's located, but I didn't know. I just caught parts of the broadcast. The house is 50,000sf and in a French style. Thought it had a name like "Zanadu". Anyone know where this house is located, when it's actually open for tours and what the tickets cost? I assume it's a fund raising event.